burning torches and lanterns, and sitting around in front of us were the people of Te Mae village. Everyone dressed in their beautifully coloured on' costumes, and around their necks hung leis of gorgeously coloured flowers. Moe, piti, toru, yelled the dancing leader, and as the pahu's beat out the age-old island rythmn of Polynesia, so also did these people, old and young alike, perform dances that exist nowhere else in the world but Polynesia.

AN ANCIENT MARAE On Tuesday, 9th August, I persuaded a friend of mine to run me out to Tautira in his car. On reaching the district of Paea we visited an ancient Tahitian marae called Arahurahu, this being the only marae in all Tahiti that has been rebuilt and looked after. It was very interesting to walk through and inspect this marae, very different to what we call a marae in New Zealand. For here in Tahiti, the days of the marae are over and forgotten, for the original purpose of the marae was to provide a place for the crownings of kings, and a place where sacred events were practised. Now there is neither king nor queen. No do they perform sacred rites any more. Reaching the district of Papara we called in to see another marae called Mahiatea, the biggest marae of Tahiti and probably of the whole of Polynesia. It is one of the most recent maraes having been built between 1766 and 1768 by Queen Purea for her son Teri'iere. The altar called an ahu measured 26ft long and consisted of eleven tiers reaching a total height of 51ft. The courtyard, called a Pae Pae (377ft) at the end of which stood the Ahu, extended towards the west on a spot where a private dwelling now stands. Ceremonial dance at Bastille day celebration. Papeete. Instead of the poi. Tahitians swing bundles of dried grass in some dances. (Pacific Photos Tahitian houses have thatched roofs and walls are thatched reed panels. The same method of weaving is used as in Maori baskets but the strands are closer together. (Pacific Photos) On the whole this marae is about four times the size of the one in Paea and is situated on a point of beach land over looking the bay. Tautira is a fair sized village with a picture hall, two grocery stores, a bakery and a little wine shop. I rented a bach from an elderly Tahitian called Pepe and also arranged to have meals at his place. My friend went back, leaving me to spend my first night in this district of Tautira, gateway to the land of Pari, land of rugged bush-clad hills, waterfalls, caves and cliffs to the water's edge. Early the next morning I set off in a canoe for the reefs, to do a spot of fishing. Pepe fished while I swam around looking at the coral and walking up and down the reef, which is a wonderful sight. A few weeks before I had seen this from the air, and now I was right in among it all. It seemed so unreal that had I not seen it. I should not have believed. While awaiting tea. I marvelled at the coral which is able to stand up to such a battering from the waves and yet still remain intact.